


love in the time of corona

by chrkrose



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:16:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23386480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrkrose/pseuds/chrkrose
Summary: Series of unrelated drabbles where Jaime and Brienne are both in Quarantine, dealing with a global pandemic and their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 53
Kudos: 192





	1. Drabble 1: Jaime (Boss) + Brienne (Employee)

**Author's Note:**

> This is me coping with quarantine because damn, it sucks big time. I think we can all distract ourselves a bit with some romance. I’m still writing for my other unfinished WIP, but I feel like this quarantine gave me a lot of ideas for short drabbles when it comes to them being stuck in a similar situation, so here it goes.

  
It’s the first thing she sees on her phone when she wakes up.

  
  


**iMessage (1 notification)**

  1. **Jaime Lannister** : Tarth



  
  


From all the people that could text her on day 10 of quarantine, _her boss_ is the last person she thought she would receive a message from.

She clicks on the notification, her stomach twisting into knots. Will he fire her from Lannister Emterprise over a text message? Technically he couldn’t do that, but with a global pandemic changing the rules of social interactions, maybe he will.

She knows Jaime doesn’t like her much. Otherwise he wouldn’t be so annoying, always talking to her as if he knows more than he’s letting on, always goading her, always trying to embarrass her within the limits of not being sued by harassment in a workplace.

It’s not as if he’s her favorite person either. And it’s not as if she hides it very well. He actually seems to gain immense delight from the very fact that she clearly doesn’t like him. 

Still, she needs this job. Especially now. Especially in the situation they are all in. 

When she opens his text, that’s all there is.

One word. _Tarth._

Even the way he texts her is annoying. 

  
  
  


**Messages (Jaime Lannister)**

  
  


**Jaime Lannister** : Tarth

_11:08 pm_

  
  


**Me:** Mr. Lannister.

_Sent_

  
  


**Me:** Hi

_Sent_

  
  
  


He’s awake. Already there are three dots on the screen. 

  
  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Took you long enough

_8:02 am_

  
  


**Me:** I was sleeping

_Sent_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** At 11 pm?

_8:03 am_

  
  


**Me:** I wake up early. 

_Sent_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** For what? 

_8:04 am_

_  
  
None of your business, _Brienne thinks to herself, but types another reply instead

**Me:** To work

_Sent_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Tarth

_8:05 am_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Nobody from Lannister Enterprise 

_8:05 am_

**  
Jaime Lannister:** And I mean literally 

_8:05 am_

**  
Jaime Lannister:** Nobody

_8:05 am_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** is working

_8:05 am_

**  
Jaime Lannister:** right now

_8:05 am_

  
  
Brienne scowls to the screen, thinking to herself how great it must be to not have to worry about your job or being fired if you’re not the perfect employee. She knows Hyle or Ronnet would be very happy to prove their point of how unqualified she is to stay on her position even if they don’t work half as much as she does.

She doesn’t know when this pandemic will be over, when things will get back to normal, but she can’t afford stay behind when they all come back. 

  
  


**Me:** Well, I still am.

_Sent_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Of course you are

_8:06 am_

  
  


**Me:** Did you need anything?

_Sent_

  
  


As soon as she clicks “send”, she regrets the way she asked him that. It seemed too harsh. Neither Hyle or Ronnet would talk like that to Jaime Lannister of all people. So she types another message quickly, in hopes she sounds more sympathetic.   
  


  
  


**Me:** I mean

_Sent_

  
  


**Me:** You texted me 

_Sent_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** I have figured it out already. You took too long Tarth. 

_8:08 am_

  
  


**Brienne:** Right. Ok then.

_Sent_

  
  


Brienne feels a pang in her heart. A mix of disappointment and anger. Regardless of his personality and his daily goal of annoying her to death, he still went to her for whatever he needed when it came to work. She had noticed more more on the last few months that he had been doing more of that lately, before the lockdown. 

The fact that she didn’t reply right away might have costed her something more in the future. Maybe she won’t be the person he will go to when he needs it anymore.

She writes a mental note of sleeping later from now own, at least after 11:30 pm, in case this ever happens again.

The noise of another incoming message pulls her back to their conversation.

Her browns furrows when she reads what’s written.

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Do you need anything?

_8:10 am_

  
  


That’s… new. She doesn’t remember a time where Jaime has ever offered to help her with anything, unless it was to make remarks about the way she conducted certain projects, remarks she made clear time and time again she didn’t need or have asked for. Not that it ever stopped him from pointing them out anyway.

And it’s not as if she ever really needed his help, or anybody else. She always made sure of that.

  
  


**Me:** Don’t worry. Is not that much work.

_Sent_

  
  


Which is true. She’s just finishing some of the projects while having to stay at home, nothing she wouldn’t have done if they were going to their office everyday. 

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** I wasn’t talking about work

_8:11 am_

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** Are you alright?

_8:11 am_

**  
Jaime Lannister:** I know you don’t have any close relatives in town.

_8:11 am_

  
  


Oh.

She doesn’t remember telling Jaime about not having anybody in King’s Landing, but she supposes it’s not something hard to figure it out, especially being her boss.

She also doesn’t know why she feels her cheeks heating up at the sudden realization that Jaime Lannister is actually concerned about her well being. 

All in all he’s not a bad boss. He’s competent. He pushes the whole team hard so they give the best they can to the projects they are responsible for. He recognizes the talent and the effort people put behind their work.

He cares.

He’s so much better than his father ever was in the short time she worked for the company while Tywin Lannister was still commanding it. 

  
  


**Me:** I’m fine

_Sent_

  
  


**Me:** Thanks for asking

_Sent_

  
Brienne bites on her bottom lip, thinking. Then she types something else.

**Me:** 🙂

_Sent_

  
She blushes again. _An emoji it’s good right?_ It shows she’s grateful for his concern.

Brienne takes a deep breath, stares at the ceiling for a moment. Then her eyes drop back to her phone, and their texts messages.

She takes another deep breath before typing something and clicking send.

**Me:** Are you alright? 

_Sent_

  
  


Three little dots show her that Jaime is already typing something back.


	2. Drabble 2: How the quarantine can impact a couple’s marriage life (Marriage AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve read an article a few days ago about how lawyers expect a high rate of couples seeking to divorce each other after the quarantine is done, so I thought about exploring Jaime and Brienne in the context of being a young married couple, and translating their issues to a modern setting (his past abusive relationship with cersei, although here they weren’t related; Brienne’s issues with her self esteem; how they take seriously their duties and obligations, to the point of putting that first and forgetting about themselves sometimes). 
> 
> I also wanted to explore them being more comfortable with each other and how the intimacy would make them more at ease while at the same time they still have communication issues sometimes.
> 
> It’s a happy fic though, don’t worry lol.

Two months. Two months since the last time they had sex.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Brienne doesn’t know how it started. Or rather, how it _ended._ What changed, really. Three years into their marriage after six months of dating and ten years of friendship before that, and suddenly they don’t touch each other anymore with the intent of having sex.

There are other touches. He still kisses her every time he enters a room or before falling asleep. When things were normal, he always kissed her before leaving to work. He always hugged her when he arrived home after leaving his office. They held hands when they went out, either to have dinner or grocery shopping. He still cuddles her when they are asleep and has her cuddling him before the sun rises in the sky. 

Jaime texted her. Called her. They Skyped when he had to travel somewhere else because of Lanniscorp. And at home, they are how they have always been, talking about everything and nothing, Jaime teasing her merciless one moment only to become infuriating affectionate the next one after she blushed every existent shade of red. And when they watched tv together, he still liked to rest his head on her lap, her hands tangled in his hair and massaging his scalp, a satisfied sound leaving his chest whenever he felt the press of her fingers on his head. 

Everything was the same. 

And everything was different. 

Because it’s been two months since they last had sex and if before she was trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal and that it was normal not to be all over each other after some time together, now it was time to face the possibility that Jaime might not be interested in her anymore. 

The ache in her chest feels as physical as the pain of a broken toe.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

In truth, she knows they had been too immersed in their respective jobs to find time for each other before. With Tywin finally passing the mantle of the Lannister legacy to Jaime after all, it was expected that their routine would change.

And then she got promoted at Tyrell’s office and suddenly they were the type of couple that would put their laptops in front of each other and hold hands through the dinner table while working on their free time.

Either that or he arrived late when she was already sleeping, or she arrived late when he was already sleeping and all they did was take a shower and get into bed, kissing the other on the forehead before becoming dead to the world.

So before, she couldn’t blame only Jaime for their lack of sex life. 

But with the quarantine… that changed.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

He was not even two days in Essos when things got serious enough that flights started to be canceled and countries started to close their borders. 

She took a break from work that afternoon to turn on her phone and find two texts waiting for her.

  
  
  


**iMessage (2 notification):**

  1. **(Husband 🦁)** : Sweetling
  2. **(Husband 🦁)** : I’m flying home tonight 



  
  
  


**Husband 🦁** : Sweetling 

_4:08 pm_

**Husband 🦁** : I’m flying home tonight

_4:08 pm_

**Me:** What happened? Is everything alright?

_Sent_

**Husband** 🦁: It seems like things are becoming pretty serious around here. 

_4:29 pm_

**Husband** 🦁: There are talks about flights being canceled.

_4:29 pm_

**Husband** 🦁: I don’t wanna be away from home if this thing spreads 

_4:30 pm_

**Husband** 🦁: Who would cook for u?

_4:30 pm_

**Husband** 🦁: And keep you strong 💪🏽 

_4:30 pm_

**Me:** I don’t think toasts and bacon are the things keeping me strong Jaime. 

_Sent_

**Me:** But I don’t want you away from home either if this virus reaches Westeros.

_Sent_

**Me:** What time are you home?

_Sent_

**Husband** 🦁: Pretty late sweetling, around 2 am. Don’t need to stay awake for me. 

_4:31 pm_

**Husband** 🦁: But take Sansa and Podrick to sleep with u otherwise they will jump at me as soon as I open the door and u will wake up. 

_4:32 pm_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

She left both Sansa and Podrick in the living room, and of course they threw a party as soon as Jaime stepped inside, barking and jumping up and down his legs until he stopped to pet them both for a few minutes.

Once he entered their bedroom, she turned around to watch him through one open eye, smiling when he went around the bed and bent to kiss her lightly on her temple.

_“I told you they would wake you up”_

_“I know. I left them outside on purpose”_

_“Stubborn woman.”_ He kissed her again on her forehead, rubbing his nose on her temple and breathing her in before standing up. _“I’m gonna take a shower. Go back to sleep”._

She closed her eyes and it seemed like not even a minute had passed before she felt the bed dipping behind her and Jaime’s arm sneaking around her waist, the smell of his deodorant and clean soap hitting her nose before she fell asleep again.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

And at some point before the sun started rising on the sky, she woke briefly to the feel of Jaime tugging her hand until she turned on the bed, the expanse of his back and the feel of him against her chest while she wrapped her arm around him the last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her once more.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Even with the government taking measures such as canceling all the flights that came from Essos, testing people who had recently traveled to countries where cases were already confirmed and closing international borders, soon the virus spread through the whole of Westeros.

Quarantine was the only way of preventing the disease from taking even more lives while scientists worked to find a cure.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 1, 2 and 3 of quarantine, both Jaime and Brienne worked at home as if they were working on their respective offices downtown. 

There was so much to do, so much they couldn’t finish before the sudden lockdown. So they took the time to organize what was possible to organize while they couldn’t leave their house. 

Usually Brienne ended up going to bed first, since she started her work day earlier than Jaime. 

On the first day she kissed him lightly on the cheek before heading to their bedroom. An hour later, when he lay behind her, she felt the warmth of his breath on her ear while his arm wrapped around her waist.

_“Are you awake sweetling?”_ His whisper on her ear sent a shiver down her spine even though she was barely conscious.

_“Half awake I think”_ she mumbled.

Jaime chuckled before kissing behind her ear and then leaned over her until she turned around to look at him through sleepy eyes.

_“Is everything alright?”_

_“Yeah. Just wanted a good night kiss”_ he said, looking at her lips. He then leaned down and kissed her briefly, chastely, pressing his mouth on hers for a moment longer before leaning back. _“Sleep”_ he murmured against her neck. 

_“Hmm… don’t tell me what to do”_ she half joked but it fell flat when before she finished speaking a yawn cut through her voice.

Jaime’s chuckle was the last thing she heard that night.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

The next two days she made a point of kissing him on the mouth before heading to bed.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 4, Jaime finished what was possible for him to do from home. Which meant that his sole focus was to make her stop working so they could do something together.

_“I’m booooored”_ he said from the couch while she sat on the table, typing on her laptop.

_“Go outside with Sansa and Pod”_

_“Come with us ”_

_“I can’t right now”_

Silence followed, and when she glanced at him he was pouting at her. On any other person it would look ridiculous.

On Jaime, it made her love him more.

_“You’re insufferable”_ she said with fake exasperation before turning off her laptop and whistling at Sansa and Pod to come inside from the backyard so they could take a walk around their neighborhood. Jaime was still grinning smugly while they got the dogs ready. 

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

That night, he received a call from one of his co workers, something about the numbers of one of their contracts from Essos that she did not understand but that made him start a conference call with more three people that still wasn’t over when Brienne went to bed at almost midnight. 

She didn’t hear him laying down behind her, waking up only right before the sun rose on the sky, with Jaime tugging her hand so she could wrap herself around him, her chest to his back.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 5, she walked on him touching himself.

Well, not exactly. She didn’t _see_ anything. But what she heard was basically the same.

Brienne had just left their house to do a quick run at the small grocery store down the street while Jaime was showering, but the chill on the air made her go back to grab a coat. 

He had left the bathroom’s door inside their bedroom slightly ajar. The water from the shower wasn’t falling anymore. No noise to conceal what he was doing.

She left the house quickly after that, and the whole trip to the store had her dealing with strange mixed feelings of arousal and hurt.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

The next few days she doubled her efforts on the last things she had to do with a renewed focus, trying to make sense of the ache in her heart. 

Masturbating was normal. Healthy. It didn’t mean anything, the single act alone. It’s not because someone is married that this person is obligated to have sex when they were aroused. That was fine. But in the context of their lack of sexual activity… Brienne felt her stomach drop.

He was still as affectionate as ever. He still treated her better than any other person had ever done. They were happy together. Weren’t they? She felt happy. She had never felt as happier as waking up knowing she was married to Jaime Lannister, that he was hers, that they were going to grow old and spend their lives together.

But now that certainty wasn’t there anymore. Because maybe…maybe he wasn’t as happy as she was. 

Was he unsatisfied? Was he not attracted to her anymore? When did it change? Why? 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Brienne got lost in her own head. 

On day 6 and 7 of quarantine, Jaime had two more conference calls that took his entire day. 

She slept late, either before he went to bed while on those calls or way after he was already sleeping. And woke up early before him.

She got lost in her own head.

So lost she didn’t realize someone was paying more attention than he seemed to be.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

It took her years to accept that the reflection she saw on the mirror deserved as much love as everybody else.

But right now, looking at herself under the bright light of the bathroom, broad shoulders, freckled all over, her hair wet from the shower she just had, skin all flushed from the heat of the water, the blotchy redness spread all over her cheeks and neck and chest...Brienne isn’t feeling like loving her reflection as much as she learned to.

_“Sweetling?!”_ Jaime’s voice is muffled coming from the kitchen and trying to break through the walls and the closed door of the bathroom.

_“I’m coming! Just a minute!”_

It’s day 8 on their quarantine. He was set on making dinner tonight, telling her they needed to celebrate she was finally free from work. That now they could just relax and do nothing all day as everyone else was doing.

Brienne opens the door of the bathroom, stepping into their bedroom when Jaime appears on the door.

_“I didn’t hear what you s-“_ he stops talking when he takes her in.

She has a towel wrapped around herself and nothing else. 

Brienne feels self conscious out of sudden, dropping her gaze before she sees whatever is there in his eyes. Walking towards the bed, she grabs the shirt and shorts she had spread on top of it, if anything for lack of what to do with her hands and body while she doesn’t look at Jaime.

_“Sorry, I took a little longer on the shower. But I’ll be there in a minute”_ she drops the shirt on the bed again, finally lifting her gaze to where he is, still standing on the door and looking at her.

Then Jaime steps in, closing the door behind him.

_“I… if I ask you something, will you answer me truthfully?”_ He says after a moment, his eyes roaming down and up her body one last time before fixing themselves on hers, never straying from her gaze.

_“Of course”_

_“Do you… do you still want me?”_

Brienne can’t hide her shock. 

_“What?”_

_“Do you still want me Brienne? Do you still want me like before?”_ His voice is firm, almost detached, but all these years of knowing Jaime and being married to him for three of them, and she can see him beneath the armor. 

She can see the fear.

_“I…”_ She stammers, not understanding where this is coming from, where this is going. She would never be the one _not wanting_ him, that much is obvious.

But then dread fills her stomach when she realizes that maybe _it is_ obvious and he’s trying to give her an out from the embarrassment and pain she would feel. He would be kind like that, she knows. 

But she meant it when she said she couldn’t lie to him. That she would answer him truthfully. 

_“Jaime, I cant… I won’t lie to you. You know I can’t. If you don’t want me anymore, don’t make me say it. Don’t let me make a fool of myself. I can’t… I can’t take it”_

The more she speaks, the more the careful mask of detachment falls from his expression, his green eyes narrowing. 

It takes him a few moments to process what she has said. And when he does, it seems like he’s just as confused as he was when she first started speaking.

_“What?”_

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. Tries to calm down, to slow her heartbeat. Something she learned on therapy, so she can have time to process her thoughts and not feel herself drowning in all those feelings at once.

When she trusts herself to speak again, she opens her eyes.

_“If you don’t want me, you can tell me. Just don’t… Don’t try to pry an answer from me in hopes that I’ll feel the same way you feel, in hopes that it will make this easier… because it won’t. I know… I know you think this is kindness, but it won’t make anything better for me”._

She doesn’t like the pleading quality of her voice, or the faint hint of tears there, but she can’t turn back in time. It’s now said and done. 

For Jaime though, he looks at her as if she has suddenly grown three heads and a tail. 

_“Brienne…”_ he finally says, after several moments of silence. _“What in the seven hells are you talking about? Where did you get the idea that I don’t want you?”_

She only stares at him, trying to make sense of his confusion while at the same time trying to hold back in the panic she feels deep down swimming in her heart. 

_“We haven’t…”_ Her voice catches on her breath and she clears her throat before starting again. _“We haven’t been…”_ _fucking?_ It feels too crude to speak like that when they are having what’s probably the first serious discussion they ever had. She ignores the faint whisper in her head telling her that it might be the last, focusing on searching for a word that can explain what she’s trying to say. _“We haven’t been...intimate… for months Jaime”_ she settles for that. It feels appropriate.

_“Yeah. We haven’t fucked for over two months. I know”_ Brienne can feel the blush spreading on her cheeks at how naturally Jaime says it. Of course he wouldn’t care about being _appropriate_ now _. “But we have been both so fucking busy, whenever I came home you were already asleep or I was asleep when you came home and then we both woke up early and you always seemed so tired… and I know how much you wanted that promotion, I know how much you think you need to prove yourself worth of their choice even though you do way more than you should and… I didn’t want…”_ He rubs his hand in his face, seeming so frustrated and so impossibly beautiful. “ _Fuck, I didn’t want to make you feel like I was pushing you to do something just because I wanted to, I… I didn’t want to make you feel as if you had to do something just because I wanted it too much. Brienne, it had_ nothing _to do with not wanting you. Quite the opposite in fact”_

She wants to believe him. She wants to believe his words more than anything. But she can’t ignore the truth. 

_“But… we are in quarantine now.”_ She says, hoping that this will be enough explanation.

It clearly isn’t because Jaime just stares at her and when it’s clear that she won’t add anything else, he shakes his head, looking even more confused.

_“I don’t get it…”_

_“I saw… I mean, I heard you. The other day. I went grocery shopping but I came back to grab a coat and I heard… you. And… I’m not mad or anything, is not that, is just… I thought…”_ she trails off until she’s silent again.

It’s his time of taking a deep breath before walking towards her, resting one of his hands on her shoulder, trying to catch her eyes when she keeps looking at anything but him.

It’s only when she doesn’t have a choice but stare at him back, that he speaks again.

_“What did you think?”_ His question is soft on his lips, his voice low. 

_“I thought you didn’t want to have sex with me anymore. That you… you weren’t attracted to me anymore.”_ Brienne blurts out, finally putting it out there. It’s strange, to hear her say it even though it’s a truth she believed so hard for the past few days, maybe even felt it before, for the past couple of months. “ _I know I haven’t reached out before… but you were so focused on Lanniscorp, you had so much responsibility out of sudden, and I thought you needed… I just didn’t want to be needy. To make you feel like I was just one more thing you needed to worry about on top of all the other things. And I didn’t… I didn’t want for you to feel as if it was something you_ had _to do unless you wanted to, I didn’t want you thinking if I wanted and you weren’t on the mood, that it was expected you would always want or otherwise I wouldn’t… you know.”_ She doesn’t want to bring Cersei of all people into this. Doesn’t want to remind him of it, not after so long. Talking about her doesn’t affect Brienne anymore, it doesn’t make her insecure or afraid, but she knows the scars of that relationship still linger on him, that he still suffers with that. 

His thumb is rubbing the skin of her neck back and forth, and she breathes deeply again before finishing her thoughts 

_“But then the quarantine started and you finished everything and still…still you never showed any signs and then I saw you that day…and I thought...”_ she trails off once more. 

_“I finished with work but_ you _were still focused on it. You weren’t done.”._ He says. “ _I was… I was waiting. Until you were done. But then you got so… distant. These past few days. First I thought you were just dedicating yourself more so you could finish everything faster. But then I realized you… you were avoiding me. I could see it. And I thought…”_ Jaime shakes his head, leaning in until he’s resting his forehead on hers, his warm breath washing over her face. _“And here I thought I was completely free of all those hellish years with Cersei”._ He looks up at her, green eyes on blue. His hand comes up to cup her cheek, thumb tracing the cluster of freckles near her eye. _“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you thought any of that was true”._

A part of her, the part of her that will probably always exist, tells her to pretend everything he said isn’t true, that he doesn’t want her, that nobody ever could, that if she was lucky she would find someone who would settle for her.

_All women are the same in the dark_.

Hyle’s voice sounds so clear in her head, clearer than he had sounded in years.

That’s when Brienne realizes that these thoughts aren’t real. The truth is right in front of her, in a pair of green eyes staring at her with nothing but love and acceptance.

And desire.

_“You… you weren’t the only one. I got caught up in my own head too. Feeling like maybe… you know, that Hyle might have been right and-“_

_“Brienne, he wasn’t.”_ He interrupts before she can continue. _“Believe me when I say he was absolutely fucking wrong about everything when it comes to you.”_

She nods, rubbing her forehead against his. She then stares at him, trying to show in her eyes the truth of her words. _“Neither was Cersei. She wasn’t right about you. Never was”_

They stay like that for a while, just staring at each other. 

And then Jaime takes a step forward, his body suddenly molding to hers, the hand on her shoulder sneaking up to tangle in her hair. 

His other arm wraps around her large frame, mouth falling to her ear.

_“That day you heard me…”_ he whispers. _“You remember how right before you left, you entered the bathroom while I was showering to tell me you were going out?”_

She nods, the feel of his breath on her skin suddenly making it impossible for her to say anything.

_“I saw you with those leggings and your hair all pushed back like that and I just…”_ he doesn’t finish his thought, raking his teeth against the skin of her jaw instead. She can’t avoid the gasp that leaves her mouth. Brienne can feel goosebumps breaking all over her skin. She’s sure he can feel it too. 

_“And now I get in here and I can’t stop thinking about you all naked and wet beneath the towel…”_ he unwraps his arm from around her body, taking her hand in his and guiding it to the bulge in front of his pants. She can feel him hard and warm through the fabric. _“This is what you do to me”_

_“I… Jaime…”_ she can’t stop herself from stroking him through his pants, and he licks a path from her jaw to her mouth, stopping his lips short from kissing her.

_“Now, wench…”_ and his smile is all too knowing. It was their private little thing. When he called her that the first time after they watched a documentary about the small folk on the Targaryen era, it got her going in a way she couldn’t explain. She was embarrassed at first, but Jaime just loved it. And she learned there was nothing to be ashamed of as long as they both liked it. _“I made dinner with the intent of seducing you into letting me fuck you…”_ He says, and then he kisses her, languid and wet, in a way that makes her toes curl. When he breaks the kiss, she’s flushed all over. But then he smiles, teasingly, and steps back from her, her hand falling from the front of his pants as he takes another step backwards. _“ And it took fucking hours. So put some clothes on and let me put my plan into action.”_

_“You don’t need to. You don’t need a plan”_ she says, walking towards him but stopping when he takes another step back.

_“No no no…”_ he says, smirking in that way that makes her want to punch him and kiss him at the same time. _“I’m going to romance you. And then I’m going to tease you until you can’t stand it anymore. And then I’m going to fuck your all over this house”_

Brienne scowls at him, but that only makes his grin wider.

She turns around then, walking towards the bed to grab her clothes.

_“Is that a new way to annoy me?”_ She says while she searches for the underwear she was sure she left there somewhere, near her shorts.

_“You know how a good fight get our juices flowing”_

She throws him another another look.

_“I’m going to kill you”_

Jaime’s tongue darts out, wetting his lips, before he looks her up and down once again.

_“I sure hope so wench”_

Brienne huffles, finding her underwear and walking back towards their closet.

She hears both Sansa and Podrick scratching the door and Jaime opening it for them. The sound of them jumping on the bed and Jaime making a baby voice while talking to the dogs make her smile.

_“Jaime, I’m not gonna do anything in front of Podrick and Sansa”_ she tells him from the closet.

_“I’ll put them in the bedroom or outside when things start heating up.”_ He calls out to her. “ _Now hurry up, you need to eat what I have done. I don’t think I ever cooked something so amazing. Not even my bacon can beat this.”_

_“Did you showed Dad? You promised to send him your next “cooking experience” after that disaster last time”._

_“Of_ course _I showed it to Selwyn. And FYI, he said it looked amazing. I sent the picture to Tyrion too. So he can bloody choke on that the next time he thinks of bringing that up again with new girlfriend of the week. Are you ready?”_

_“In a minute. Don’t rush me.”_

_“I’m not”._ He waits a second, and then: “ _Are you ready now?”_

_“Jaime!”_ Brienne shouts from the closet.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
She’s surprised that the dinner is indeed good. She wonders how much time he spent reading and watching YouTube videos until he got it right. Jaime never had the gift for cooking.

Once the table is cleaned, Jaime gets two glasses of wine and the bottle he has been saving for a while.

While he fills her glass, she thinks about what he said earlier.

That he was waiting for her. 

Thinks about all the things he had told her in the past. All the times he was rejected for the sake of it, for the power it gave his abuser. She thinks about all the games and the manipulation he suffered. 

She thinks about how none of that ever stopped him from making her feel wanted and desired. How he never let that stop him from loving her so much for so long.

Brienne takes a huge gulp of her glass once he’s done and back to his chair, and then stands up, walking to him and straddling his lap.

She can feel herself blushing from her cheeks to her neck and down her chest, but tries her hardest to stare at his eyes and not break contact.

The hiss that leaves his mouth when she lets her weight drop on his lap makes her flushed skin heat up even more.

_“You’re skipping several steps in my plan wench”_

_“Jaime…”_ she groans, half amused, half exasperated. 

He doesn’t let her finish, tangling his hand in her hair and pulling her head down until he crashes his lips on hers, his other arm wrapping around her hips to ground her against him.

Suddenly she forgets all of her embarrassment, all the doubts and thoughts filling her mind in the last two months, forgets everything but the feeling of him under her, of his breath on her face, his lips on hers, his tongue deep in her mouth. The noises he makes, the desperate moan that escapes his throat when one of his hands sneak under her shirt to cup a breast.

She quickly takes her shirt off, throwing it somewhere on the floor. Jaime doesn’t waste any time, lips falling to the skin of her collarbone, mouthing his way down until he has a nipple between his lips. 

_“Fuck…Jaime...”_ there’s nothing better than the feeling of his wet tongue on her skin. Nothing better than having him thrusting against her from beneath, the friction of their bodies against each other making her mad.

_“Fuck, I need you. I need you”_ his mouth trails a path to her neck and he sucks the skin there hard enough to mark her. _“Wench…I need you...”_

She needs him. She needs him now. 

She sneaks her hand inside his pants, wrapping her fingers around his cock. 

It wasn’t on her mind when she chose those particular shorts to wear at home, but she’s glad they are loose enough and short enough she doesn’t have to take them off. 

She strokes him while he gasps and then licks the skin of her jaw, her other hand moving her shorts and underwear aside enough that she can take him inside her.

_“Wench… sweetling… I’m not gonna last. If you keep doing this I’m not-“_ but she’s already sliding down onto him and he doesn’t finish his sentence, one hand clutching her hip with a bruising grip while the other angles her head so he can kiss her, the vibrations of his moan against her tongue. 

Brienne never felt so good. The feel of him so deep and hard inside of her, the heat... finally, _finally..._

He thrusts up against her hard enough that if she was any smaller or lighter, he would send her off his lap, As it is, he’s strong enough to hold her when she loses her balance. And then they set a punishing pace, and the way Jaime stares at her while she rides him, the way he gasps and groans and kisses her everywhere, sucks and licks every little patch of skin he can reach… 

Brienne tangles both of her hands in his hair and pulls him back to give him the dirtiest kiss she has ever gave him while her orgasm takes hold of her body and she feels herself clenching around him.

He comes inside her not even a second after, wrapping both arms around her back, grounding her against him and thrusting deeper than she has ever felt him go.

The whole thing probably hasn’t last more than five minutes, but Brienne can’t find in herself any reasons to complain about it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
On day 10 of quarantine, he makes good of his promise of fucking her in every room of their house. 

It’s only when he has his head between her thighs while she’s on their couch, head thrown to the side trying not to come so fast from the vision of his blonde curls between her legs and the feel of his lips sucking on her clit, that she notices both Sansa and Podrick watching them through the glass door at the backyard. Neither looked very happy. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 13 of quarantine, Jaime pleads her to play strip poker. 

They end up falling asleep on the living room when the game doesn’t last even three rounds after she had taken her shirt off, Jaime gripping her arm and both of them laughing and wrestling until he had her pinned down on the floor, the weight of his body on hers making her clench in anticipation. They both know she let him win, but he was still smug when he thrusted inside her in one smooth stroke, telling she should know he was strong enough.

At some point in the night he brings their pillows and blankets from their bedroom, wrapping himself around her beneath the covers.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

He still wakes her right before the sun rises on the sky, turning himself on her arms and tugging her hand until she’s plastered against his back. She kisses his neck and shoulder before falling back asleep. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 15, Jaime brings her toast and bacon to eat on their bed. 

_“How long do you think this quarantine will last?”_ He asks, mouth fool, cleaning her chin from the grease of the bacon that had dropped there without her noticing.

_“I don’t know. I heard it’s probably another month or so. At least there will be a lot of work for me when I’m back. I was reading that the divorce rate will sky rocket once the quarantine is over”_

_“Do people even like each other when they get married?”_

_“It doesn’t seem they do”_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

On day 20, they both fall down on the shower thanks to Jaime’s wonderful idea that they should have shower sex. That they never had shower sex and they should have shower sex.

Brienne reminds him they had sex in the huge tubs in Harrenhal on their honeymoon but he insists it’s not the same.

She goes to sleep with a bruise on her hip and Jaime says he hopes she gets a lot of divorce cases so they can have enough money to reform their bathroom to five times larger than the current size.

_“So I’m paying for it?”_

_“We both are. When I show you what I have in mind, you’ll understand why we’ll need both our paychecks”_

Brienne turns around to look at him. 

_“Jaime, when we have kids, you will be the one explaining to them the reason why we never saved them money for college”_

He laughs hard at that, dragging her from her side of the bed until she’s spread across his chest, the vibration of his laugh shaking her body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also read an article that many couples will be expecting at the end of the quarantine and here we can see why ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	3. Drabble 3: Neighbors AU (modern AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very silly, and they might be sightly ooc. I didn’t want to go down their issues and make it too serious and take away the fun of it.

The three knocks on his door were probably louder than it should have been, but Brienne is feeling too frustrated and irritated to truly care. She takes a deep breath, willing herself to relax, to calm down. Hyle is probably gone by now anyway.

Jaime opens the door.

Shirtless.

Brienne is positively sure she  _ hates _ this man and his stupid beautiful infuriating face.

_ “Tarth. What’s up?” _

_ “Do you  _ have _ to do that?” _

_ “Do what?” _

_ “You were singing Jaime. Loud! Louder than the stereo, which was already loud by itself!  _

He shrugs his shoulders, a smirk playing on his lips.

_ “It’s not even 9pm. On a weekend. I’m not breaking any law or rules. It’s a  _ reasonable  _ hour to listen to music. And on the last condo meeting you said you wouldn’t have a problem as long as I was  _ reasonable. _ ”  _

This man. Why, in all the seven states, with all the cities in Westeros, did she have to move in to the same condo that he lives in? 

It’s been a war since she got her apartment next door, six months ago. 

_ “That doesn’t mean you’re not bothering people just because it’s not past 10pm Jaime” _

He steps into the hallway, effectively making Brienne step back unless she wants his naked chest pressed against her- and she definitely  _ doesn’t _ want that - and looks to one side then the other. Then his eyes are back on her, the glint of amusement he’s having at her expense too obvious this close to him.

_ “I don’t see anyone complaining.” _

_ “I  _ am  _ right  _ here _. Complaining” _

_ “You seem too angry Tarth. Did I interrupt something? A date maybe?” _

She feels her cheeks reddening instantly, the flush spreading so fast down her neck she’s sure even if she was a good liar there was no way he wouldn’t know he’s spot on about that.

_“Ha I did”_ and he laughs. _Laughs._ _“Was that brown haired guy? The one with the bland face? I swear I can never remember how his face looks like. Kyle is that it?”_

_ “His. Name. Is. Hyle. You. Idiot!”  _ She shouts before she can control herself, flushing a new shade of red when she realizes what she has done. She can already hear the lock turning and a door opening in another apartment down the hallway.

Brienne turns around and goes back to her own apartment before anyone sees her in front of a naked Jaime Lannister, red as a lobster, shouting at him like a crazy person.

_ Why is that rich people are so interested in other people’s lives like this _ ? She thinks while getting inside her place and turning the lock. She doesn’t remember her neighbors in Flea Bottom ever caring about what she was doing when she lived there. 

For the 152673th time ever since she inherited this apartment from Goodwin after he passed away, she thinks she would be better off living there, in Flea Bottom, than on a fancy apartment near Old Gate.

  
  
  
  
  
  


It’s late that night when she receives a text from Hyle.

At first she doesn’t quite get the meaning of his words, not because she can’t read what he’s saying, but because she can’t quite believe he’s actually saying what he’s saying.

Or texting.

_ You’re such a nice person, I don’t think I can do this without that weighting on my mind. If you want though, I would like to give this a real shot.  _

A bet. It was a bet. Between Hyle and a few of her co workers. 

Suddenly Jaime’s loud stereo sound and even louder voice singing “The Bear and The Maiden Fair” right after she turned off the lights - at Hyle’s request - and was about to have sex with Hyle didn’t feel like such a bad thing to have happened.

She blocks Hyle’s number.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

A week later, the whole country is put in quarantine.

Which means everyone living on her building is tested, and after it’s checked that nobody is infected, it’s determined that people can circulate through the public areas of the condo, shop at the private grocery store inside the complex, but they cannot leave the building, otherwise they will not return until after the pandemic.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

Whenever she sees Jaime - at the gym; grocery store; walking with his dog at the courtyard near the swimming pool - it’s like she’s faced with the truth over and over again: there’s nobody for her out there. There probably won’t be. 

It’s not like she thought Hyle was the one, she never truly believed that. She knew that belief was something of her younger self, growing up watching every romantic comedy she could put her hands on, reading every classic that gave her the opportunity to escape to a world where her body, her face, none of that matter, only who she really was. 

(Or even better, all of that  _ did matter,  _ all of that was something to be cherished and desired, an  _ I love you because of _ and not an  _ I love you in spite of  _ )

But she grew up, and learned that relationships weren’t built that way, that love was something built between two people with effort and patience, that maybe companionship is better than an all encompassing feeling that leaves you dazed and daydreaming of impossible things. 

And Hyle was nice enough, he seemed to care, he talked to her…

.. and all of that had been a lie. 

So every time she saw Jaime around, in all his glorious form, perfect body, perfect face,  _ far from perfect personality,  _ but still, charming, opening doors to women and elderly, stopping to chat with the concierge or the janitor, smiling and sometimes even  _ playing _ with the kids around the building, she was reminded over and over that if  _ not even Hyle Hunt wanted her _ , if even Ronnet Connington despised her… she would never, not even if she died and reborn,  _ she’d never in a million years _ be with someone like Jaime Lannister.

Which made her realize she wanted to be with someone like Jaime Lannister.

Ok, she _wanted_ _Jaime Lannister_.

It seemed like she never really learned after all.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

It’s the third time this week she can hear Jaime singing in his apartment, the wall of her room she shares with his apartment vibrating with how loud his stereo is playing “Two Knights and a Bed”. That she can hear his voice over it is a statement of how much he doesn’t care about anyone listening to his singing. 

She could never imagine herself that carefree.

Brienne glances at her cell phone. 

10:01 pm. Saturday.

If this was a month ago, _if this was_ _two weeks ago,_ she would be knocking on his door by now, demanding him to turn down the volume so she could have a little peace.

But the truth is that she’s too embarrassed with herself after the realization she came to this past week, too angry at herself for falling for Hyle’s ridiculous tricks now that she thinks about it, and too sad to leave her apartment at all just to be slapped in the face once more by the unfairness of the gods.

Maybe she could go down the store and buy ice cream and soda, and when Jaime goes to sleep sometime around 1 am - he’s never asleep before that, not even when they had normal working hours and were not all confined because of the quarantine - she could put 500 days of summer on WesterosFlix and try to draw another meaning from that movie. It had been quite revealing to her after she found out Renly was gay a few years back. 

She’s so immersed in her own thoughts it takes her s moment to realize that her room is silent. Jaime is no longer singing either.

_ Maybe he has a date. _

There are some pretty rich ladies around the building, and she knows for a fact that Melara has her eyes on him ever since she broke up with Daemon. At least that’s what Daenerys and her mom Rhaella told Brienne a few days ago while they were waiting in line to pay their groceries.

She’s once more brought back to reality by two loud knocks on her front door.

When she finally opens it, it’s to face Jaime Lannister himself on the other side. A drink in his hand.

An angry Jaime Lannister that is.

_ “Jaime? What are-“ _

_ “What happened with you? What’s wrong?” _

_ “I… what?”  _

_ “There’s something wrong. You haven’t knocked on my door once this week. I have been listening to music past 10pm. What happened?” _

_ “Are you… are you  _ angry _ because I haven’t been complaining about you? Are you drunk?”  _ She peers over his glass. It looks like vodka and ice cubes.

Jaime narrows his eyes.

_ “Was it Hyle? What happened? Where does he live? Can I hit him? I won’t kill him or break any bones, but can I punch him?” _

_“Jaime, what in seven hells are you talk- wait, so you_ do know _his name!”_

He just crosses his arms over his chest, his biceps very much a sight to sore eyes, especially with the black shirt he’s wearing right now.

_ “Brienne. What did that asshole say to you that made you all mopey and sad?” _

_ “I’m not moping”  _ she grumbles, scowling. 

Then she just sighs and shake her head. Maybe she is. Moping. 

_ “It’s nothing Jaime. Maybe I’m just tired of… “  _ and she can’t tell him what she’s tired of really. Tired of him walking around, tired of thinking of him all the time whenever she’s not seeing him walking around? She definitely  _ can’t  _ tell him any of that. “ _ I’m tired of going after you reminding you of how rude it is to disrupt other people’s space just because you think you can and just because you know nobody else will say anything. Just because you’re handsome and polite and treat people nicely - me being the exception - you think you can do whatever you want and there won’t be any consequen-“ _

_ “Do you think I’m handsome?” _

Brienne stops dead in her tracks and looks at him wide eyed. She feels the flush spreading on her cheeks.

_ “F-from everything I said… that’s what you paid attention to?” _

_ “It’s the only part that interests me, really”  _ he says casually. 

She narrows her brows at that. 

_ “Why?” _

_ “You never said that before. You never told me you think I’m handsome.” _

_ “People just don’t go to other people and tell them that” _

_ “Well… they do that to me.” _

_ “Really?”  _ She asks, outraged. 

He just grins, shrugging his shoulders as if it’s not a big deal.

_ “You haven’t answered my question” _ he says after she just stares at him for a whole minute.

Infuriating man. She wants to punch him.

Or maybe kiss him.

_ “You know y-you are Jaime. Happy now?”  _ She says under her breath. It’s a good thing that all her redness can be mistaken by irritation. 

_ “I was talking about what has happened that made you sad, but thank you”  _

Brienne closes her eyes, taking a deep breath through her nose before opening them again.

_ “Nothing happened. We just didn’t work out. And then quarantine… I’m just…”  _ she trails off, shrugging her shoulders much like he does to her all the time. It doesn’t come out as naturally as when he’s the one doing it, but she thinks she has made a good job of not telling him what’s really bothering her, both in the Hyle front  _ and _ the Jaime front.

_ “You know Tarth, ever since you moved in, there are four things I know for a fact about you.”  _ Jaime says, uncrossing his arms and raising his free hand with four fingers up. 

_ “One, you’re the one bringing old Bryden his mail and leaving on his door every time you come up from downstairs so he doesn’t have to go all the way down to the lobby to get it.”  _ Brienne can feel a new shade of red burning her cheeks instantly. Nobody was supposed to know about that. Bryden had a serious hip injury a few months back, and he was stubborn about pretending that he was fine and could go back and forth as if nothing has happened. So she leaves his mail on his doorstep and rings the bell, and warned the concierges about it so they would confirm it as a new practice of the building when Bryden called to complain about special treatment.

_ “Two, your legs are very long. Seriously. They go on for miles.”  _ She doesn’t think she can go any redder but her reflection would prove her wrong, she’s certain of it. 

_ “Three, you have the bluest and prettiest eyes I have ever seen.”  _ Brienne can feel her breath catch at that, and the same very eyes dropping from his face to stare at some point past his shoulder.

_ “And Four...you are a  _ terrible _ liar”.  _

Yeah, not much of a great job hiding what’s bothering her after all. 

_ “Whatever Hyle has done or whatever he has said to you… it’s not worth you stressing over a guy like that. And quite frankly, it’s downright offensive that you let him mess our thing” _

_ “Our… thing?”  _ She manages to say, her heart beating so loud inside her chest she thinks Jaime might hear it. 

_ “This unspoken thing between us.” _

_ “I-I don’t know what you’re on about” _

He cocks his head to the side, raising his eyebrow.

_ “You should watch more movies other than romcoms. Seriously.”  _

And with that he looks her up and down before turning around, taking the rest of his drink while walking back to his apartment. 

_ How does he know I watch romcoms?  _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It takes a while but she finally finds the quote he mentioned to her. 

The movie is some super hero story set on space. 

The quote is from the main character to his romantic interest. He asks her when they are going to do something about the unspoken thing happening between them.

The woman tells him there’s no unspoken thing going on.

The guy then explains what’s their unspoken thing. 

_ Guy and girl, on a tv show, dig each other, but they never say it. _

Brienne reads it over and over again, until she’s sure she’s not understanding it wrong. 

Just then, a text message appears at the top of her screen.

  
  


**iMessage (1 notification)**

  1. **Jaime Lannister** : Knights of the Galaxy Vol.2



  
  
  
  


**Messages (Jaime Lannister)**

  
  


**Jaime Lannister** : Knights of the Galaxy Vol.2

_ 10:40 pm _

  
  


**Jaime Lannister:** The movie I was talking about.

_ 10:40 pm _

  
  


**Me:** I know. I found the quote.

_ Sent _

  
  


Brienne takes a deep breath. Then another. And another.

And then she types.

  
  


**Me:** Maybe we could do something about it? 

_ Sent  _

  
  


He reads the text right as she sends it. 

But the three dots indicating he’s typing never come. 

Instead, she hears three knocks on her door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Ju and her annoying neighbor ( unfortunately real life is not that good and he wasn’t a Jaime Lannister).

**Author's Note:**

> It’s tricky when the boss falls in love with his employee, but I don’t care about the ethical side of the situation so don’t mind about it either lmao


End file.
